# Celebrities who played a fictionalized version of themselves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911 "2009-08-27T14:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/1 "2009-08-27T14:54:46Z")
When I first saw the [Celebrities who always appear as a fictional alter-ego](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=512385) thread, my first thought was Jennifer Grey who played a fictionalized version of herself in [It’s Like You Know](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168340/) – a show that I thought was pretty good and didn’t deserve to die. She doesn’t exactly fit that topic though because she doesn’t do that everywhere, just on that show. There are other actors who’ve done the same like Jerry Seinfeld playing himself on his show, Larry David as well. I would even say that just about everything Adam West has done since Batman was play a fictionalized version of himself. I also remember seeing Tom Hanks on [The Naked Truth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112090/) once playing himself who got his shirt caught sticking out of the zipper on his pants in a restaurant. The kicker at the end of the bit was that he told Tea Leoni’s character that he gets his kicks doing that in public. So who else has played him or herself like this? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/2 "2009-08-27T15:04:34Z")
John Malkovich in _Being John Malkovich_. Several guest stars (e.g. Kate Winslett, Ben Stiller, Patrick Stewart, Daniel Radcliff) did parodies of themselves on the Ricky Gervaise show, _Extras_. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/3 "2009-08-27T15:06:12Z")
\*\*Neal Patrick Harris \*\*in the Harold & Kumar movies. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/4 "2009-08-27T15:07:08Z")
Julia Roberts in _Ocean’s 12_. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/5 "2009-08-27T15:11:14Z")
Maybe Roger Moore in **Cannonball Run**. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/6 "2009-08-27T15:21:12Z")
This was really common in the days of radio and early TV. George Burns and Gracie Allen; Jack Benny; Phil Harris and Alice Faye; Ozzie, Harriet, David and Ricky Nelson, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/7 "2009-08-27T15:24:11Z")
Does Kirstie Alley in “Fat Actress” count? ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/8 "2009-08-27T15:26:08Z")
Jean Claude Van Damme in **JCVD** Kareem Abdul Jabbar in **Airplane** ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/9 "2009-08-27T15:28:27Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > \*\*Neal Patrick Harris \*\*in the Harold & Kumar movies. Neal Patrick Harris actually plays Neal Patrick Harris in the Harold & Kumar movies. An actor who has had a similar career as the real Harris, but is not “Himself”. Apparently the NPH of the Harold & Kumar movies is a bit of a psychotic. It’s all right there in the credits… [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366551/fullcredits#cast](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366551/fullcredits#cast) ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/10 "2009-08-27T15:39:57Z")
In [Cold Souls](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127877/) Paul Giamatti stars as a fictionalized version of himself, agonizing over his interpretation of “Uncle Vanya.” ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/11 "2009-08-27T15:41:12Z")
William Shatner in **Fanboys.** ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/12 "2009-08-27T15:51:23Z")
Jamie-Lynn Sigler in Entourage. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/13 "2009-08-27T15:57:31Z")
Lyle Talbot played himself in an episode of **Green Acres.** Chuck Norris in **Sidekicks**. About a kid who takes up karate to be like his hero Chuck Norris. He ends up in a tournament where Norris is a judge. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/14 "2009-08-27T16:06:01Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Julia Roberts in _Ocean’s 12_. This is the one I was going to add to the thread. I think it gets extra points because it involves Julia Roberts playing a fictional character who, in turn, masquerades at one point as Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/15 "2009-08-27T16:16:52Z")
Garry Shandling played Garry Shandling, the fictional host of a talk show on It’s Garry Shandling’s Show." It get’s a little more complicated because it’s a show-within-a-show, which means that Garry Shandling the actor played Garry Shandling the narrator who was talking about Garry Shandling the talk show host. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/16 "2009-08-27T16:17:09Z")
When you say “fictionalized,” does that include thinly disguised versions of themselves? Or must the character have the same name as the actor? Example that comes to mind: Neil Simon’s “Chapter Two” was a thinly disguised account of his marriage to actress Marsha Mason. And when they made a movie of it, Marsha Mason got the lead role. No, the character’s name wasn’t Marsha Mason, but for all practical purposes, she was playing herself. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/17 "2009-08-27T16:19:08Z")
Being John Malkovich ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/18 "2009-08-27T16:20:46Z")
Also… does it count when a celebrity stars as himself in his own autobiography? If so, Muhammad Ali played himself in “The Greatest,” and Jackie Robinson played himself in “The Jackie Robinson Story.” If only fiction counts, well, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris starred in a TERRIBLE movie called"Safe at Home," in which they played themselves. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/19 "2009-08-27T16:27:20Z")
The TV Show **Las Vegas** had several actors/celebrities that played fictionalize characters of themselves. Jean Claude Van Damme, Chubby Checker, Wayne Newton, Wolfgang Puck, Paul Anka ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911/20 "2009-08-27T16:31:13Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Neal Patrick Harris actually plays Neal Patrick Harris in the Harold & Kumar movies. An actor who has had a similar career as the real Harris, but is not “Himself”. Apparently the NPH of the Harold & Kumar movies is a bit of a psychotic. It’s all right there in the credits… > > [Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) - Full cast & crew - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366551/fullcredits#cast) Isn’t that the very definition of a “fictionalized version of themselves”? He’s the actor from Doogie Houser (in reality) but fictionalized in his behavior. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911.md?page=2)